Cure
by Isabella Rain
Summary: When the love of his life walks back into his life in the form of a patient, Dr. Inuyasha Takahashi must make difficult deciscions for her treatment.
1. Arrival

A/N: Okay you guys, this is a longer, revised first chapter of 'Cure'. Enjoy!

A sigh rippled through her chest as she stepped off of the bus and set down her suitcases. She looked up at the sign in front of the large building. 'Shikon Institute for Young Teens' was what it read, but the girl didn't seem too happy about it. She reached down and picked up her bags and walked up the steps to the large building.

As she opened the door she was greeted at the front desk by a lady in a soft pink set of scrubs. "Welcome Miss Higurashi!" She said cheerfully. "I've been waiting for you." Her smile was warm and cheerful, causing the girl to pull at the sleeves of her hoodie. The lady walked from behind the desk and came out with a clipboard in her hand. "My name is Rin Takahashi and I'll be your nurse. Okay?" The girl nodded her head in acknowledgement. Rin's smile didn't falter at the girl's unwillingness to speak.

"If you would, please follow me this way." She said in a warm voice, leading the girl down the white, sterile hallways. The young girl looked around with her wide honey-brown eyes. The nurse made a few turns and went down a couple hallways before she came to one hall that was labeled 'Student Dorms'. She walked down the long hallway and stopped at one that had a name on it, the girl's name, Miss Kagome Higurashi.

The pale, slender, raven haired girl looked at the door with dread. The reality of the situation settled on her shoulders as Rin lead her into the room. Kagome looked around the, to no surprise, white, sterile room with a double bed, a TV, a dresser, and in the corner, a small bathroom. "I'll leave you to unpack your things, dear. Dr. Takahashi should be in shortly." Kagome's reply was a curt nod. The only thing that was any good about this place was him. He was the reason why she chose here, over anywhere else. Dr. Inuyasha Takahashi, her old childhood friend.

She set her suitcases down on the floor and walked over to the edge of the bed clad in blue sheets and blankets and sank down onto it. She lay back on her back and took a deep breath, then sighed. _He finally got me here. _She thought curtly. She closed her eyes and just took in her surroundings. _At least the floor isn't tile. _She sank her feet into the blue carpet and let the softness of it wash through her. _Maybe this place won't be so bad._ She thought to herself as she heard a soft knock at her door.

_As he checked his roster the week before to see who his new patient was going to be, a shock ran down his spine as he read her name, Kagome Higurashi. He recognized it immediately. The girl with raven hair that waved to the middle of her back, her warm, innocent honey-brown eyes, and her warm creamy skin…The girl he fell in love with and never forgot. _What is she doing here? _He thought. _Why would she be here? _He scanned over her file and he shook. He couldn't believe it. Not her, anyone but her. He could never see her going that far, not the girl that he knew back in Jr. High. He must have the wrong file. He must. But the picture, it was definitely her. He dropped the file and let his head fall into his hands; a shaky breath shook his body. _

"Hey," Inuyasha said warmly, "How do you like your room?" She shrugged softly looking at him. "At least you have a TV." He said trying to lighten the mood. She shrugged again and walked over and picked up her bags, then returned to her bed, laying them down on the bed. She opened it and started to unpack.

As she pulled a picture frame out of her suitcase and looked down at it, a ghost of a smile pulling at her lips. She softly ran her fingers over the faces of the picture. Her and Inuyasha at the Jr. High Fall Festival, she was in her Kimono, and he in one similar to hers. She set it on the bedside table next to the lamp, facing her bed then started taking her clothes out of her suitcase and putting them in drawers.

Inuyasha looked over at the picture and warmth spread across his chest. _She still has it. _He thought. The same picture sat on his desk in his office; he smiled softly at the memory. "I bet you're hungry." He said teasingly.

She looked up at him as she unpacked her last suitcase. She shook her head softly. "Have you had anything to eat today?" He asked worried. She shook her head again. "Then you need to eat." He looked her up and down, this didn't sound like her at all. The realization came to the forefront though as he analyzed her clothing. They hung off of her, her baggy hoodie covering up her body completely so no one could tell anything. Her baggy sweatpants covered her legs; Inuyasha didn't want to believe the file. He couldn't. Not about her.

He sighed and walked forward. "Come on Kagome. You need to eat." She shook her head stubbornly. "I'm not giving you a choice Kagome." She looked up at him then, her emotionless eyes looking even more emotionless. She pushed the last of her clothes into a drawer and put the suitcases in a corner out of the way. She wouldn't look at him; he could tell she wasn't happy about this. "I'll be right back." He said softly as he exited.

She went to the bathroom as he left and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was dull, and her eyes empty. Her cheek bones were sunk in and jutted out in wild directions. _Food does sound good. _She thought. _How long has it been since I've had a good meal? _She asked herself. _I want to tell him everything. I want him to save me…_She looked at herself again and sighed. _He probably wouldn't believe me. I'm just a troubled girl. _

"Kagome?" She heard in the other room. She walked out of the bathroom and the smell of food hit her nose. _God, it smells so good. _She took another sniff and she smiled inwardly. _Ramen. Should have known. _"Sit at the table, Kagome." She silently obeyed. He walked over as well and set the tray in front of her. Her eyes wandered over the food then lingered on it as the smell drifted into her nose.

Inuyasha folded his hands under his chin and watched her debate on whether or not to eat the food. Her hands trembled as she reached for the fork, but stopped halfway and folded them back in her lap. He grew impatient as he watched her and picked up the fork and twirled some noodles on it. Kagome looked up at him confused. "Say ah!" He said putting the fork next to her lips. She hesitated and then opened her mouth just a little. He pushed the fork in her mouth and she hesitantly closed her mouth around it. He pulled the fork out once the food was in her mouth and watched her slowly start to chew. She swallowed. Then looked at him.

As the food fell into her stomach it instantly churned. She could feel the bile coming up from it, but it was the good kind. The kind that said you were hungry. Her stomach growled loud enough that Inuyasha's demonic ears picked it up. He smiled at her and chuckled inwardly. "Do I need to keep feeding you?" She looked up at him blankly, heat rising in her chest. He looked at her pale cheeks and saw the slight hint of blood pooling in her cheeks.

She shook her head slightly and reached for the spoon. He handed it to her and watched her pick at the ramen and then put it in her mouth slowly. She made a funny face at first and then started to devour the food.

He grinned inwardly after a few minutes and looked at the empty bowl. "Want more?" She shook her head and looked at him. He could see her eyes already start to droop as she looked over him. "Why don't you go and get some rest. It's been a long day."

She nodded softly and left her chair, heading for the bed. She pulled the covers back and climbed in, pulling them back over her. The second her head hit the pillow she was out. He smiled to himself as he cleaned up her bowl and tray. "I knew you were tired." He chuckled and shut the light off, and left the room; leaving her to sleep.

Hours later, she lay in her bed clutching the clawed hand of a half-demon. Sound asleep, completely unaware of her death grip on the man's hand.

_He walked by her door to check on her, just to make sure she was okay. _The doctor thing to do. _He inertly told himself. "INUYASHA!" Came a blood curling scream from behind the door. He swiftly opened it and rushed in. He looked to see the girl still lying in her bed, thrashing around, almost like she was trying to get someone off of her. "Inuyasha," She whimpered tears streaming out of her closed eyes "Save me." He caught one of her hands in his and softly rubbed it. _

"_Kagome, I'm right here." He softly mumbled into her ear. "I won't let 'em hurt you anymore. I'm right here." Her tense hand loosened and she rolled over to one side, automatically calming. _

"_Inu…yasha." She mumbled softly, falling into a calming peace. He softly stroked her hair as he watched her sleep, looking down at the hand that held his. A faint smile crept across his face._

"_Sleep my love." He whispered in her ear. _

Her eyes fluttered opened to the sight of her hand clutching a broad male hand with claws. _Inuyasha? _She silently hoped. She let her eyes wander up the tanned muscled arm to the broad masculine chest covered in a tight white doctor shirt. She allowed them to follow his chest up his neck to his face, his beautiful handsome face that she fell in love with, not that she'd admit it. His white ears twitched atop his silver hair that flowed down the back of his chair, his eyes were closed softly and his breaths were deep. _He's sleeping, _she thought to herself with a smile.

She moved slightly to get a better look at him and his eyes opened, his golden-brown eyes looking right into her honey ones. Color flooded her cheeks at the intimate look he gave her. He smiled at the blush that brought color to her pale face. "Good morning Kagome." He said warmly.

"G-g-good morning." She stuttered. He smiled and looked down at her, softly running his thumb over her hand before he released it. A shocked look ran over her features before she realized how foolish she was. _Of course he has to release my hand. _She thought sadly as she looked up to see Inuyasha smiling down at her warmly.

_Kami, _He thought to himself, _I love her so much. _He softly ran his hand from her jaw to her ear with the back of it. A blush covered her face once again as she looked down embarrassed. "Let's get you into the cafeteria for breakfast." His voice full of doctor charm. She nodded softly and stood up and looked at him.

"Oh, um, yea. I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll let you get changed." A blush tinted his cheeks as he walked out the door of her bedroom, shutting it behind him. He leaned his back against it and closed his eyes. "Kami, we've got to get her better."

Kagome looked at her dresser and walked over to it, opening it and pulling out a pair of sweat pants and a matching hoodie, both a soft blue. She walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open, and pulled her clothes off slowly. She covered her chest and looked at herself in the mirror. Her raven hair fell to the middle of her back and bruises covered her lower half. She let out a sigh and walked away from the mirror and turned on the water of the shower. She stepped in and shivered at the, at first, freezing water, then let her arms fall as the water heated up.

Tears fell down her face as sobs racked her body. She wrapped her arms tightly around her chest and fell to her knees, letting the sobs overtake her, the warm water washing the tears from her face. She reached up to the chain that hung on her neck; a small razor blade with a heart was attached to it. She pulled the chain off and dug the razor across her left wrist hard, the warm water washing the blood down the drain. She did the same thing to her other wrist and then let the razor fall from her shaking hands as darkness consumed her.

Inuyasha walked back into the room a few minutes later, his ears twitched as the smell of blood hit his nose like a tidal wave. He could hear the water running before he had gotten close enough to see the door to the bathroom hanging open. "Kagome." He called, receiving no answer. "Kagome?" He called again as worry washed over him.

He walked into the bathroom, steam rose from the shower and the scent of blood overpowered his senses. Panic seized his chest the closer he got to shower. He yanked the curtain open and his chest clenched at the sight his eyes took in. "Kagome!" He screamed as he looked at the girl lying unconscious on the floor of the shower, her raven hair swirling around her face in the water. Blood ran in constant streams from her wrists because of the warm water, her pale body paler from the loss of blood. He reached down quickly pulling her up into his arms. He turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around her, cradling her in his arms like a mother would her child. He applied pressure to her wrists in an attempt to get them to stop bleeding.

As the blood flow slowed he pulled a bandage around both her wrists, stopping the bleeding altogether. He dropped to the ground, cradling her against his chest. "I-Inu-Inuyasha?" A soft exasperated voice whispered.

Inuyasha's ears perked up immediately. He looked down at the girl cradled in his arms, hope flooding his chest. "Kagome." He breathed, looking down at her. Her eyes were shut, her body shaking.

"T-t-thank you." She whispered as she fell back under again, her head leaning heavily on his chest.

"Kagome. Kagome!" He softly shook her, getting no response. He sighed in frustration and stood up, still cradling her to his chest. _Clothes. _He thought to himself as he searched the room for clothes. His eyes landed on the light blue sweatpants and hoodie she had pulled out for herself earlier.

He grabbed the clothes off of the sink and went back into her bedroom. He softly laid her on her bed and opened her towel. A blush covered his cheeks as he looked at her naked body. _Kami, _he though swallowing hard. _You hentai! She's passed out and all you can think of is touching her! _He chastised. He shook the thoughts out of his head and started putting her bra on her then proceeded to her underwear.

Once she was fully dressed, he sat next to her bed, his hands softly stroking her hair and face. As his hands crossed over her eyelids for the hundredths time in the last hour, he felt them quiver under them. "Kagome?"

"Inuy-yasha?" Kagome whispered, her eyes fluttering open softly.

"Kagome!" He moved closer to her, his hands cupping her face.

She smiled up at him weakly. "I-I'm sorry." Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him, and then averted her gaze.

He shook his head harshly. "We'll talk about it later." His thumbs softly caressed her cheeks as they made slow circles on them. He softly kissed her forehead. "Sleep right now, you need your rest." Despite the urge in his heart to hold her, he released her face.

Kagome nodded softly, her chest seizing from the loss of his touch. As he went to get up, her hand grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt, a silent plea for him to stay.

His heart clenched at the sight of it and shook his head. "I have to go and do paperwork." He looked at her softly. "I'll be back to check on you." She nodded softly, rolling onto her side. He looked at her one last time and left the room.

_**A/N: **__There's chapter one, after stupid computer memory loss. I hope you guys like it. I have a lot of good ideas for this story. =] Please review. I live for you guys' comments. _

_For my readers of my previous story, if you guys have ideas for it, please tell me and I'll put more chapters on it. If not, I will eventually add more when I get ideas._

_aonto the sleeve of his onto the sleeve of his shirt. __Thank you so much guys. =]_


	2. Unexpected Visit

Inuyasha slammed the door to his office and leaned against the door, his hands going to his face as he slid down the door. His hands fisted in his white hair as the internal battle in his head was waging. He didn't want to walk out on her like that, but what choice did he have. _Damn rules. _He growled inwardly.

A loud crash rang through the room as the glass vase he had picked up from the floor slammed into the wall. "GOD DAMNIT!" He screamed. He could feel tears stinging his eyes from anger. The guilt he felt for walking out on her all those years ago haunted him.

"_Inuyasha, why do you have to go?" Kagome said softly. "Why can't you go to High school with me?" _

_Inuyasha looked at her; he could see the tears welling up in her eyes. His suitcases were packed and held tightly in his hands at his sides. He dropped them and opened his arms. "Kagome…" He said softly. _

_The flood gates opened, her tears falling freely as she ran into his arms. She nestled her face in his chest, right where it fit perfectly. "Please don't leave me. Please." Her body shook with control as her arms tightened around him. He wrapped his protectively around her and laid his head on top of hers. _

"_Kagome, please don't do this to me." He could feel the tears stinging his eyes. "You know I can't stand it when you cry." _

"_Don't leave me here alone with that monster, Inuyasha!" _

_His features contorted in confusion as he looked down at her. "Kagome, what are you talking about?" _

"_That damned man. Don't leave me here with him!" Her face was serious, her voice shaking. "Please, please." _

"_Kagome, I know he's creepy, but there's nothing wrong with him." His mind raced as he tried to find something wrong with her mother's boyfriend, the six-foot four man with his long black hair was intimidating sure, but, there was nothing wrong with him. _

"_Inuyasha, please." Her eyes were pleading him to listen, some untold pain hidden in them. _

_He softly cupped her face in his hand. "I'll only be a phone call away. I'm only going to the other side of the city. Please Kagome; don't let me go with regrets." _

_Her tantrum seized. She looked up at him with instantly dry eyes that were almost empty. "Okay." She nodded softly and looked him over one last time. "I love you Inuyasha. Don't ever forget that." _

"_I know Kagome." He softly ran his hand from her chin to her ear in one swift motion. "I love you too." He said as he picked up his suitcases and turned away from her. _

He gripped his hair tighter. He felt completely stupid. _Maybe if I wouldn't have walked out on her then, maybe she wouldn't be here, wouldn't have hurt herself. And, and maybe we could be together right now. _Images of her smiling up at him while holding onto his arm, of his kissing her soft lips, of him pu-.

He cut himself off abruptly, inhaling a shuddering breath. He let his hands slide off of his face. "I will get her better." He said strongly, pulling himself up and opening the door to his office, stepping out without a look back.

Kagome looked over at the wall, clutching her blankets close to her chest. _Inuyasha. _She thought as tears started to roll down her cheeks. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into a dreamless sleep.

An hour later she woke up and rolled onto her back. Holding her arm up she, pulled her hoodie sleeve down and examined her bandages. A sound at her door caused her to jump. Hastily, she pulled herself into the sitting position, yanking her sleeve down as her favorite person walked in the door, a clipboard in hand.

"Did I wake you?" He asked warmly.

She shook her head in response looking him over. A smile fluttered through her eyes so fast that Inuyasha almost didn't catch it. He smiled at her as he walked over to her bed. He looked at the edge and then at her, "Can I sit here?" He asked softly. She nodded curtly, again. He sank down on the bed beside her, flipping his clipboard open.

"So, do you plan on eating dinner?" He asked hopefully.

She looked up at him as if deep in thought, then shook her head. "Kagome." He said warningly. "You have to eat."

She shook her head again.

"I'm going to have to feed you like I fed you yesterday if you keep it up." A warm feeling fluttered in her chest at those words, a smile flashing quickly across her lips, but she quickly hid it before he could notice.

Again, she shook her head. _He'll find out, he'll find out I ate…._ She thought to herself, panic flooded her face. _'If you eat that you're going back to the basement…..be a good girl and close your eyes, you won't feel a thing….' _

Tear rolled down Kagome's face, sending a shot of panic down Inuyasha's spine. "Kagome," He said throwing down his clipboard and cupping her face in his hands. ", tell me what's wrong Kagome."

She shook her head violently as her eyes snapping open widely. "Kagome, please. I can't help if I don't know." He could feel the tears at his eyes as he watched her, as he saw the hidden secrets she held. "Please, I'm begging you." He softly rubbed her thumbs over her cheeks soothingly. "Please."

She wanted to give in, she wanted to tell him everything, but she couldn't. She knew he would find out. Sadly, she shook her head again and averted her eyes from his. "Ka-"A knock on the door tore his hands from her cheeks. "Come in." He called as he stood up and picked up his clipboard.

As the door opened, Rin, the nurse from the first day she arrived, walked into the room. "Dr. Takahashi, Ms. Higurashi has a guest." Inuyasha immediately straightened.

"How? She hasn't even been here a week and we don't allow visitors for the first few months." He said sternly.

Rin looked pale. "Doctor, may I talk to you outside?" Inuyasha looked down at Kagome who had begun to grip the covers of her bed. He nodded and followed her out.

"Rin, what's going on?" Inuyasha's hands were beginning to shake.

"It's her father, Doctor. You know he's one of our biggest contributors, we can't turn him down or we risk losing millions of dollars in funding." Her eyes were sorrowful. "Brother, I apologize….I sincerely am." He shook his head.

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me." He turned around and headed back into Kagome's room.

He softly shut the door to her room and set the clipboard down on her dresser. "Kagome, come here." He said opening his arms. She looked at him confused. "Please Kagome?"

She ran her eyes over him once and pulled the blankets back from her body, rolling her feet off the bed. She looked at him again questioningly, he nodded once. She breathed a deep breath and moved away from her bed and toward him.

When she was a few inches from him he looked at her softly. "Can I hold you Kagome?" He asked lowly. She nodded softly and his arms came around her. He pulled her close to his chest and buried his face in her hair. Small tears fell from his eyes. "It's your Dad, Kagome."

She stiffened, her hands gripping his shirt tightly. Fear paralyzed her where she stood. "Kagome, I won't let him hurt you. Kagome I promise you I won't let him hurt you. I promise." He softly kissed her forehead. "You don't have to tell me what he does to you, but I'm here to listen." He cupped her face in his hands and tilted it toward him. He looked her in the eyes and bent his head down to her lips then pulled forward and kissed her forehead.

Her face turned a soft shade of pink as she looked up at his face again and she nodded softly. He pulled her close to him again and then released her and ran his hands down her arms and held her hands tightly in his. "I will do everything I can to keep you safe Kagome." She nodded and looked up at him.

"Let's go…" He said softly and released her hand, leading her out of the room.

Kagome's eyes darted from side to side as she walked down the same hallway she walked down only a few days before. Fear coursed through her body, but Inuyasha's promise propelled her to move forward. Inuyasha put his hand on the small of her back as they neared Dr. Sesshomaru Takahashi's room. "It's going to be okay." He softly whispered into her ear. She nodded softly as he led her into a room with two adult males in it.

"Welcome Ms. Higurashi," Said the man behind a huge oak desk. He had silver hair down to the middle of his back; he looked like Inuyasha, and except for it was obvious he was fully demon. He smiled softly at her. "It's good to see you again, although I wish it was on better circumstances. I'm sure you know why you're in here."

She nodded softly and looked from him to the second man in there. He was leaning casually against the wall of the office, his face half hidden by the shadows of the bookshelf. His silky black hair flowed down his back. He opened his purple eyes slowly and looked directly at Kagome, nailing her where she stands. "Dr. Takahashi, why don't we leave them alone?" Dr. Sesshomaru suggested.

Inuyasha's eyes shot up to his an unspoken fight crossing between them, one that he lost. Casting his eyes to Kagome's, but realizing he can't reach her while her father is there, he sighs and followed the other doctor out. As soon as the door was shut he turned around and faced him.

"Sesshomaru, you better have a damn good reason for making me leave her alone with him." He fumed.

He heaves a deep breath and looks at him. "Brother…I'm sorry; I wasn't given a choice in this matter. It was either give him private sessions with his daughter or he pulls the funding out from under our feet! Do you know how bad that would leave our patient care? He also mentioned taking her out of our care if we didn't give him everything he asked for."

Inuyasha sat down in the chair against the opposite wall of the office. He laid his head in his hands and took a shaky breath. Sesshomaru sat in the seat next to his brother. "I'm sorry." He repeated softly.

As the door closed, the man against the wall pushed off it and moved to the door, locking it. "It's been a while, hasn't it my dear?" Kagome turned around, standing in the middle of the floor facing him. She nodded softly, pulling her sleeves down into her hands, clutching them tightly.

He moved toward her and softly ran his hand over her cheek. "Have you forgotten how to speak? That won't do. You're supposed to answer my questions. Have you missed your father?" She nodded softly, not meeting his eyes.

The hand that had run over her cheek just seconds earlier came across her cheek with a loud smack. Kagome bit her lip to keep from crying out. "Now, have you missed me?"

"Yes Father." She said softly, fighting the tears stinging at her eyes.

"That a girl." He chuckled, a menacing smile gracing his lips. "Now, how are you handling your 'eating problem'?"

"Fine," was her timid response.

"Oh really? Lift up your shirt." He said, looking at her mockingly.

She bit her lip softly trying to put a lid on the fear crawling up in the pit of her stomach. "Come on." He said egging her on. Her shaky hands fumbled with the bottom of her hoodie, unable to pull it up, but her father's patience was only as big as a grain of sand.

"For God's sake," Glaring viciously at her he grabbed the bottom of her hoodie and shirt and pulled them roughly over her head, but stopped tugging it off as soon as it was over her head, leaving her hands pinned above her head. Analyzing her, he nodded softly then shook his head, his anger rising. "You ate."

She shook her head violently. "No I didn't!" The tears pricked at her eyes. "I swear!"

He slapped her again. "Don't lie to me!" He shouted as he pinched a piece of skin on her side. "Look at this _fat_!" Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks as she tried to deny his claims.

"I haven't!" She yelled back. Taking his eyes from her stomach to her face, he held a deadly look in his eyes.

"Sit down." He said with a deadly calm.

"No!" She yelled in his face. His anger flared as he slammed her into the chair that would normally be used for parents. A fist met her face as he straddled her.

He gripped her chin in his forefingers and forced her to look at him. "Don't you ever, ever yell at me again! Do you understand?" He growled. She nodded softly. "Do you understand me!" He said shaking her by her shoulders.

"Yes, Father." She whimpered.

"Good." His face relaxed from the deadly rage it held, to one of sadistic amusement. "Now, let me punish you for your lies."

Inuyasha paced the hallway in front of Sesshomaru's office. It had been almost three hours since him and his brother had walked out and left Kagome alone with her father. "Damn it!" He screamed as he punched the wall above the chairs across from the office.

"Calm down." Sesshomaru said in his soft tenor voice. He lifted up a cup of tea to his lips and sipped it softly.

He sent a murderous look at his brother. "How can you expect me to be calm! That man has her in there and we haven't heard anything for almost three hours!"

Setting down his cup, Sesshomaru opened his eyes and looked up at Inuyasha. "It's her father, Inuyasha. I know you love her, that's why I assigned you to her. I remember the first night you brought her to the house and how she tried to make me smile." A soft glimpse of a smile touched his lips as he thought back to it.

_Sesshomaru sat on the couch in the basement of his family's estate home flipping through a book on the human anatomy. His attention though, couldn't be held because of a soft pitter patter coming down the flight of stairs. _

"_Inuyasha! I though I said don't bother me while I'm down here!" He yelled without looking up once he heard the foot steps stop at the bottom of the stairs. Breathing in, he noticed he had been wrong on who was in the room. Looking up from his book, he saw a dark haired girl standing at the foot of the stairs clutching her hoodie sleeves. _

"_I'm sorry." She said timidly. "I was looking for Inuyasha."_

"_Oh. Well he's not down here, as you can see. Now can you please leave so I can continue with my reading?" He said glancing down at his book again, until he felt the couch push down at his side. _

"_What are you reading?" She said softly smiling up at him. Angrily, he looked away from his book and down at her. _

"_Concepts to the Human Anatomy." He said bluntly without emotion._

"_Oh. Well, what's your name?" She smiled warmly up at him. "Mine's Kagome."_

"_Sesshomaru." As he flipped the page of his book he felt a soft tingling at his scalp, looking down he saw her gently running her fingers through his hair. "Hey, what are you-"_

"_Your hair is just like Inu's. It's just a lot straighter, but it's the same color at least." A small dimple poked out from her cheek as she smiled brightly up at him, still playing with his hair. _

_Growling softly in his chest, he pulled his hair from her small hands. "Do you have to be so annoying?" _

_She shrugged and looked up at him. "You don't smile much do you?" _

"_What? I smile plenty!" _

_She shook her head. "I don't think you do."_

"_Why would you say that?" _

"_Because you just don't have the shape right to your lips to smile a lot. They're flat across, while if you smiled more, they would turn more up toward your eyes." She said matter-of-factly._

"_You're a smart ass, you know that?" He said trying to keep a small smile from his lips._

"_That's what I'm told." She said giggling._

"_Kagome!" Called a voice from upstairs. "Where are you?"_

"_Ut oh, that's Inu." She smiled warmly. "I guess I'll talk to you another time. Smile more though. Okay?" She smiled one more time and raced toward the stairs, disappearing from sight with soft pitter patters. _

_A smile spread across Sesshomaru's lips once she was out of sight._

"That was before her step-father came into the picture. Sesshomaru, she doesn't smile, she doesn't talk, and I have to force her to eat! It's not like her and you know it!" Inuyasha looked to his brother, hoping for him to somehow prove him wrong.

"I kn-" Sesshomaru was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Kagome and her father stepped out of the office. Her father smiled warmly at the two doctors.

"Thank you for allowing me to see my daughter. I'm looking forward to our next visit together." He looked down at her then back up at the two before him.

"Mr. Higurashi," Sesshomaru said standing up with a start. "Thank you for coming, but may I ask you not to visit again for at least two weeks so that we can allow your daughter to adjust more to our facilities and improve some." Sesshomaru's eyes glanced at Kagome's, searching for any sign of distress to match the smell of fear surrounding her.

He nodded softly. "I will try Doctor, but you see, I just missed my daughter terribly," He looked down at Kagome again briefly with a look of menace that only she could see. "We had had a fight before she left and I hadn't been sleeping well since she left. I just had to come make amends, and we have. Thank you for letting me see her. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a flight to catch." He leaned down and softly kissed her forehead and left.

"Inuyasha, why don't you take Kagome to her room so she can rest." Sesshomaru looked at him and held his brother's gaze with an untold grant of permission. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to attend to." He turned and headed into his office, closing the door to the room with a soft click.

Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. "Come on, let's get you to your room." She nodded softly and allowed him to lead her through the hallways. Occasionally his hand would brush hers softly, every time she longed to hold onto it, but fear kept her still.

When they reached her room she went to her bed and buried her face in the pillows, leaving Inuyasha to shut the door. He looked over at her, pain racking his chest. Quietly he padded over to her bed and sank down beside her. "Kagome…" He said softly, placing a hand on her lower back. "Talk to me."

She shook her head and buried her face deeper in the pillow. "Kagome please…" He pleaded. "I'll help." Again, he got the same response. He sighed frustrated and hooked his arms under her, one under her knees and the other her neck, and flipped her around into his arms.

Startled, she looked up at him, her eyes red from tears that hadn't been shed. Softly he ran his fingers across her cheek, earning a soft red tint to her cheeks. "Kagome, please tell me." She shook her head and buried her face in his shirt. He laid his head in her hair defeated, stroking her hair softly. "You can tell me anything, I promise." Kissing her forehead, he placed his hand behind her neck and held her to him.

He wanted to cry, wanted to break down. What was it that she couldn't tell him? Shaking, he took his hand and put it under her chin, tilting her face toward his. The tears she had been fighting to keep back had leaked through and were now rolling down her cheeks.

Looking down at her, he saw her face for the first time since she walked out of his Brother's office. His enhanced sight saw the bruises forming underneath the surface of her skin. One on each cheek, one in a hand print, one in a fist. Anger rippled through him. "Kagome, what did he do to you?" His voice hinted at how close he was to changing to his demon form.

Kagome's already wide eyes widened more at his question. She then looked away and shook her head as if to say, 'Nothing.'

"Don't lie to me Kagome. I can see the bruises! I bet even just me gently doing this," He ran his fingers gently over her cheek, earning a wince from her. ", hurts you!" Multiple emotions warred in his chest. His love for Kagome, the guilt he felt for leaving her for school, and his hatred for her step-father. "Kagome, I want to help you. I won't hurt you like that sick monster." He pulled the cradled Kagome closer to his chest, burying his face in her hair. "Please, let me help you."

Kagome closed her eyes and buried her face in his neck. _'I really want to tell you. I want you to save me Inuyasha…but he'll know…' _She thought to herself, closing her eyes tighter as she thought back to what her father said in Sesshomaru's office.

_Mr. Higurashi was still straddling his step-daughter looking down at her now bruised body. The trash can in the corner smelt of vomit from her puking. Gently, almost seemingly lovingly, he ran the back of his hand down her cheek. "You haven't told anyone about your punishments, have you?" He ran his hand through her hair as he said this, pulling on it roughly to emphasize the last to words._

_Kagome winced and shook her head. "No Father, no one." She felt the tears stinging in her eyes as he pressed on her new bruises and pulled on her tender scalp. _

"_Good." Releasing her hair he put his hand roughly on her chin and jerked her face up toward him painfully. "Because if you do, I promise you, I'll kill you. And it won't be quick. I'll punish you worse than I ever have before." _

A shudder ran through her, making every one of her bruised nerves spasm with pain. Inuyasha held her tight to him and took in her scent deeply. _'I promise you Kagome. I will save you.'_ He silently vowed.


	3. Broken Bones and Unexpected Smiles

_**A/N: **__Okay guys, I know I can't make you review, but I really wish you would. It lets me know what I'm doing wrong and whether or not you guys want more chapters or it lets me see your thoughts and feelings on the matter. Well, please read and review. =)_

Inuyasha had left a little over fifteen minutes ago when he thought she was soundly asleep, tucking her into her bed and leaving her with a soft kiss to her forehead. Sadly though, she was wide awake, and it didn't look like she was going to be sleeping anytime soon. The meeting with her Father was still ringing through her head like a gunshot, a cold, fearsome gunshot. She closed her eyes trying to drown every one of his words out, letting tears flow freely from her eyes for the first time since she heard her Father was coming. Clutching the pillow to her chest, she sobbed into it, until eventually she cried herself to sleep.

He couldn't stop himself from walking past Kagome's room every five minutes, or at least smelling the air to make sure she didn't hurt herself again. The only scents he could pick up from her were the residing fear that surrounded her like a cloud of poison, tainting every part of her pure mind, and salt, from the tears he knew she was shedding right now. When he walked by her room he could hear her crying, he could feel the pain in his chest from being unable to go to her, knowing full and well she wouldn't tell him anything.

'_But I guess that's not new…' _He solemnly thought to himself, his mind reeling back to the last phone call he received from her.

_Kagome frantically searched the house, praying with all of her heart Father was asleep and not watching her at the moment. Quickly, she sprinted up the stairs to her room and locked the door before hurrying to her pillow and pulling out the cell phone that was hiding under it. _

_Doing one more frantic sweep of her room, she dialed in the familiar ten digit number into the cell phone and waited while it rang. Praying he would answer. _

"_H-Hello?" A slightly droggy hanyou said into the phone. _

"_Inuyasha." Kagome sighed in relief. "Hi."_

"_Kagome!" Inuyasha quickly became alert, having answered his phone on instinct while sleeping upon hearing her ringtone. "Hey hun, how are you doing?"_

"_Good." She lied quickly. "What about you?" _

"_I'm doing good as well. What's going on? I normally don't get phone calls from you at," He glanced over at the alarm clock on his night stand ", 11:30 at night."_

"_Oh," She glanced down at her trembling legs. "I can let you go if you want me too." She tried to sound happy, but her voice shook too much for it to sound convincing to him._

"_No, its fine, sweetheart. What's got you so upset?" His words were coated in worry. He could almost hear her trembling through her voice. It had every one of his senses on end._

"_Eh, it's nothing, just school exams tomorrow. You know how much I always hated those." She said trying to sound nonchalant. _

"_You're lying." He said flatly._

_Footsteps pounded on the stairs. 'Shit, I guess he hadn't been home earlier.' Kagome's hands began shaking so bad it rivaled a sledgehammer. _

"_Inuyasha, I miss you." She said quickly._

"_I miss you too, Kagome. What's wrong?" His voice was almost frantic now. He could hear her voice drop the fake happiness and turn into sheer fear. _

"_I love you." She said, choking back tears._

"_I love you too, hon-." His words were drowned out by yelling in the background and then a loud noise that sounded like wood breaking. "Kagome!" He cried out into the phone._

_The last sound he heard from the other line was a crack and her scream. A piercing, heartbreaking sound that would have made the angels cry. The other line then went silent. _

_Without thought, Inuyasha pulled on a pair of jeans and darted out the door, not caring about someone seeing his demonic speed. There was only one thought on his mind as he slowly fought with the demon demanding to be let out. 'Save Kagome.'_

_He arrived in front of her house just as an ambulance was pulling away from her house. A sick, nauseating smell hit his nose as he jumped up to her window and opened it. The smell of her blood was thick in the air, smears of it all over her bed and the right side of her room. Her door was smashed through and her things strewn all over the place. Tears swarmed Inuyasha's eyes as he took it in, the smell so potent to him. He wanted to kill whoever did this to her._

_As his eyes darted across the room he saw a hunk of crumbled metal on the ground against her far wall. Inuyasha examined the small, destroyed machine and realized it was her cell phone. 'Was this why she was so nervous? Is someone trying to keep her away from me?" Shaking, he rushed outside and sat in the tree outside of her bedroom in the shadows so as not to be noticed. _

_A few hours later, a casted, bruised, and slightly bloodied Kagome came through the remains of her door. Her face was blank as she tried to pull her bedding off and put on new ones herself with only one arm, but found it extremely difficult and painful. Tears fell from her eyes, but she still continued to try and get those damned sheets off. _

_Having had enough of him watching her hurt herself, Inuyasha came through her window and pulled the sheets off of her bed himself in one quick motion. "I-I-Inuy-yasha?" Kagome stuttered surprised. _

"_The one and only." He softly tried to joke as he turned around to face her. Damn, she looked bad. Her face was swollen with bruises, her right eye the worst. Her hair was a tangled bloodied mess, and her arm, Jesus; it looked like someone just snapped it in two the way the cast was set on it. _

"_W-Why are you here?" Her eyes held something, love, but also fear. Extreme, overwhelming fear. _

"_I had to come check on you, and when I smelt your blood, I waited for you to come back. I had to see that you were alright. And obviously, you're not." Tenderly placing his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes. "What happened Kagome? You know you can tell me."_

_She shook her head with wide eyes. "It was nothing; I just tripped and fell through my door down the stairs." She laughed. "I guess I'm such a klutz." Her eyes warned him, no pleaded him, not to ask her any more questions. _

_He nodded grimly, but took her excuse, not believing a word of it. "I promise you, I'm going to get you out of here Kagome." Swiftly, he put new bedding on her bed and picked her up bridal style and laid her on her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. _

_Smiling like a child, she softly said, "Thank you." And beamed up at him despite the pain. His heart clenched at the sight and he gently lowered his face to hers and softly kissed her lips. _

"_Anytime, sweetheart." He whispered as he watched her doze and the left despite his demon side screaming at him to stay and protect her. 'I could smell someone's anger rising from the floorboards. Someone didn't want me near her, and I don't want to be the cause of her getting hurt like that again.' He thought to his demon side, which, surprisingly, agreed with him. _

Returning to his office, Inuyasha sat in his chair wide-eyed. "I could have stopped it then." He said softly.

"Could have stopped what, Brother?" Sesshomaru asked as him and his wife, Rin, entered his office.

"What happened to her." His eyes were unfocused as he looked past his brother and sister-in-law.

"What are you talking about?" Rin asked softly, laying a hand on his arm.

"What did her medical records say about a broken bone in her right arm, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked pointedly at his brother.

"It was snapped in half, clean through. It was a miracle they could align the bones after so much damage. Her x-rays looked almost as if someone had taken her arm and TRIED to snap it like a twig." Realization struck Sesshomaru as he looked at Inuyasha's face. "Wait, how did you know about that?"

"I was on the phone with her when it happened, and I saw her afterwards." Rin gasped.

"Why didn't you say anything, Brother?" Rin asked surprised. "I thought you loved her!"

"I do!" He retorted. "She was so scared I couldn't bring myself to ask her, something in her eyes pleaded me not to say anything. I think it would have meant something worse than her arm getting snapped, possibly even her death. I think that's why she won't open up now."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "I knew she seemed strange after that meeting with her father, and after I went back into my office I could smell vomit and blood in the trash can."

Rin's hand covered her mouth, worry seeping across her face. "Well isn't there something we can do? Husband, we can't allow her to go through all of this! She's practically our sister! And if you haven't opened your eyes to it yet, your brother's future mate!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"

"Did you forget that a demon's mate can also sense it on other's of her kind that are also soon to be marked? I'm not completely oblivious Inuyasha." She said, matter-of-factly.

"Trust me, Brother; I've known since the first day you brought her home. It's not exactly subtle when you two are together. Which is yet another reason you are on this case and not any other doctor here; you are the only one who she will eventually fully open up to. Eventually you will be able to merge your mind into hers to see what has happened, while none of us can." Sesshomaru's eyes seemed slightly warmer whenever he talked about her, which surprised Inuyasha to no end. His eyes were normally only like that for his own mate.

Inuyasha nodded. "But her soul is nowhere near strong enough for me to do it now. I need to get her in a better condition before I even attempt to link my mind to hers."

Sesshomaru nodded in agreement. "Then we are going to have to do everything in our powers to make that happen, and one of those is going to have to be revoking her Father's visits to see her. I'll come up with the excuse for him, but you, Inuyasha, are assigned solely to Ms. Higurashi. I don't care what you have to do." And with his final words he turned and left.

"You can do it, I know you can Brother." Rin said warmly, laying her hand on his arm before she exited the room with her husband.

Kagome's eyes fluttered open slowly to silver hair spilling over her bedside, twin dog ears perched atop of that hair. She knew who was lying there, but she didn't want to wake him. Just do, this. Running her fingers over the soft white tips of his ears down to the base of them, gently rubbing them like she used to, and smiling warmly to herself.

The ears in her hands twitched a little, tickling her fingers, causing a small laugh to come from her lips. Inuyasha's ears instantly stood at attention to the wonderful sound. Looking up at her, he tried to keep his head low so she could continue playing with his ear. His chest filled with joy and pain at the sight of her battered face smiling so brightly.

Her eyes held a light he hadn't seen in years, and her smile was wide, causing her cheek bones to rise slightly. It was one of the most beautiful things he'd seen in a long time. Before she even had time to realize what was happening, she was in his arms, being pressed so tight into his chest as tears started to come to his eyes. "Oh God Kagome."

Her eyes widened in surprise, then softened as she gently ran her hand over and through his hair. His face nestled into the crook of her neck, trying to hide the tears that were now freely flowing down his face. She in turn wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, a slight smile still on her face as she continued to gently stroke his hair.

After a few minutes he pulled her slightly away from him so he could look at her face. Bringing one hand up to cup her face that smiled gently at him, his heart felt like it was soaring and breaking at the same time. Without notice, Kagome gently kissed a linger tear at the corner of his eye. Inuyasha was breaking as he sat down on the bed with her still in his arms.

Everything that she had done this morning had been unexpected; Inuyasha had no idea if this meant she was making progress, or if this was only a onetime event. He didn't want it to be. He wanted this to be the start of a brighter beginning for her. Cupping her face in both of his massive hands, he looked into her brown eyes. "Kagome, when this is over, when you're better, I'm going to give you everything I always promised I would."


	4. Peeping Tom Inuyasha

Inuyasha continued to watch Kagome as he slowly shut her door, the light from the hallway being the only thing illuminating her sleeping figure. He smiled softly to himself as he turned around and headed toward his office. As he walked by his brother's office, he heard his brother calling him.

"Yea, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked as he poked his head into his brother's office.

Sesshomaru had his head in his hands, an exasperated look on his face. "Come in and shut the door, Inuyasha." His tone was grave.

'_Shit.' _Inuyasha thought to himself. "Uh, sure. What's going on?"

"You might want to sit down." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk, still without looking up. As Inuyasha took his seat, his brother finally looked up. "We might have a slight problem." Sesshomaru's eyes were serious with a slight hint of worry.

"And what would that be?" Inuyasha asked, almost scared to know.

"Kagome's father has hired a _private_ physician for her. He feels that she needs the extra attention while she's here." He suddenly looked angry enough to kill. "He doesn't think our staff is completely 'qualified' to help his daughter. Brother, I don't like the man he wants to bring in. Do you remember Naraku Origumo? He took classes with both of us in college."

Inuyasha cringed. How could he not forget the guy? He had long, wavy black hair and a look that would send chills down any good natured person's back. His eyes were an unnatural purple color that hinted at him experimenting on himself with different kinds of miasma and demon blood. "What does he have to do with anything?" He asked.

"That's the man her father wants to bring in. Mr. Origumo I guess got his degree in psychiatry. Teen psychiatry." Sesshomaru shook his head. "She starts meeting with him tomorrow."

"Can't I sit in there with her? We both know that guy is seriously messed up. I can't put Kagome in a room alone with that bastard for an hour every few days!" Inuyasha was fuming. He seriously wanted to punch Kagome's father right now. He had no right, NO RIGHT, to subject Kagome to that kind of torment! She was already frail enough as it was; who knew what Naraku would put her through.

"No. That was in his stipulations. Inuyasha, I'm not happy about this either, but maybe if we let this go through we can find proof on her father. I didn't plan on sending her in alone," He smirked mischievously. "I planned on sending her in there with a camera watching Naraku's every move."

"Ingenious!" Inuyasha said. "Then we could sit in your office and watch him."

"But we couldn't break in the first session." He said grimly. "We'd have to wait, or Kagome would have to tell you. If not, her father might suspect and pull Kagome right out of our hands."

Inuyasha nodded, determined. "So, essentially, we're trying to catch Naraku talking to her father about her treatments?"

"Exactly." Sesshomaru said with a calculating, almost clever look in his eyes.

Kagome woke the next morning and rubbed her eyes. Holding her hands up in front of her face, she let her sleeves slightly fall a little, exposing the scabs on her wrists. With a slight frown, she ran her finger over one of them, and then let her arms fall to her sides so she could stare up at the plain white ceiling.

Begrudgingly, she finally threw her legs off of the side of her bed and drug herself into the bathroom to shower. Sighing, she slowly removed her shirt, reluctant to see the bruises on her abdomen area. When she opened her eyes though, she was happy to find her bruises were almost completely cleared up. She almost wanted to do a dance of relief. Only a few small bruises remained, and they were one their final yellowing stages.

Smiling to herself, she started the water to her shower and slipped her remaining clothes off and stepped into the lukewarm water. She shivered as the last bit of cold water left the shower head and trickled over her body. As the warm water hit her, she felt like she was in Heaven.

About twenty minutes later, Kagome stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her hair and then one around her body. The towels were both a baby blue and were extremely soft. As she looked down at her arms, she realized she forgot to look at the bruises there and sighed when she realized those ones weren't gone yet.

She walked out of the bathroom with closed eyes, sighing over the bruises on her arms. When she opened her eyes, a pair of gold ones greeted her. "Inuyasha!" She screamed, trying to cover herself more.

The blushing hanyou averted his eyes. "I'm not looking!" He said in return, his voice full of embarrassment. Kagome quickly ran to her dresser and grabbed her things, accidently dropping her bra in front of Inuyasha. Bending down, she didn't realize Inuyasha was peeking through his hands and got a clear view of her breasts as she picked up her bra. His face reddened even more than it had before.

Minutes later, she emerged completely clothed from her bathroom, her face red and her temper slightly fuming. Inuyasha knew he was in trouble as she made her way over to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, thinking she was menacing to him.

"Inuyasha! What do you think you were doing in my room while I was showering! You peeping tom! Don't let me EVER catch you in here when I get out of the shower! Just because you're my 'doctor' doesn't give you PEEKING RIGHTS!" She practically screamed at him.

His eyes widened more with every word she spoke. "K-Kagome." He said stunned.

"If you think I'm going to let you get out of this by sweet talking me, you're wrong!" She continued to fume at him.

"Y-y-y-y-you're talking." He said, taking her in his arms swiftly. "You said something!" He said happily swinging her around. "That's the first time in a long time I've heard you actually talk!"

He looked down at her. Her anger was obviously forgotten, but she didn't share the same enthusiasm that Inuyasha did. Instead, her face was almost a gray pale. "Kagome?" He asked worried as he set her back on her feet. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" He asked softly shaking her. "Talk to me, honey." He pleaded.

Instead her eyes started to water. "He's going to kill me." She whispered right before she fainted.

"_Kagome, you are not to talk to anyone but me and your mother. Understood? No friends, no teachers, no doctors, you are mute to their knowledge. Do you understand me?" She nodded quickly to her stepfather's questions. Automatically agreeing with him so she wouldn't be hit again; she was to be sent to the Shikon Institute tomorrow and he was drilling her on what she was and wasn't allowed to do. Obviously talking was one of them._

"_Yes, sir." She said softly. Not entirely wanting to agree with him. _

"_Good. If you do, I'll come see you and you'll pay for it. You'll get a more serious punishment than ever before. You are never to tell a soul what has happened in this house." Her father threatened. "Now come and show me a proper goodbye." _

"_Yes, sir." She meekly answered, fear and dread travelling through her._

As she came to, she realized she was lying on her bed, a damp wash rag on her forehead. Inuyasha was, yet again, at the side of her bed. He smiled softly as she came around again. "You're awake." He said relieved. "That's good, because I never got around to telling you why I was in your room earlier."

Kagome looked at him confused, waiting for him to continue. "I'm sorry I'm not going to be allowed to give you time to rest before you go and see him, but I really wish I could." He shook his head angrily. "Kagome, you're going to have to go and start seeing a psychiatrist every other day. I'm so sorry. I just got the orders yesterday, and I can't go in there with you. He was sent by your father, and if I were to sit in with you he would take you away from me again, and I can't let that happen. Not when you're getting this close to recovering." He was shaking, but so was she.

'He was sent by your father.' Echoed through her head, she didn't want to go. Didn't want to be anywhere near this man, but she knew she didn't have a choice. She looked at Inuyasha with sad eyes, but nodded in response anyways. She knew he didn't have much of a choice.

"I have to take you to him now Kagome." He said sadly, moving away from the bed to let her get up. Slowly, she got off of the bed and slipped on some flip flops to go and see this new person sent by her father. He looked down at her with sad eyes and she nodded to him that she was ready to go. In response he placed a hand on the small of her back and kissed the crown of her head before opening the door.

Naraku smiled as he looked at the clock on the wall. _Five minutes to go. _He thought to himself. Then he would get to see his old pet again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he remembered what she smelt like. _Flowers. Delicious, gorgeous flowers. _He thought licking his lips.

He looked around his office to make sure everything was in place one last time. Smiling to himself, he walked over to his desk and picked up the small, black chip he found on his wall the first few hours he was in his office. _Ignorant fools. They didn't really think I wouldn't find this did they?_ He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he ran the chip between his index finger and his thumb. _Now they'll be completely blacked out for me and my pet's sessions. _A broad smile crossed his devilish lips as he ran his tongue over his teeth and whispered. "It's time."


	5. Sessions with the Devil

_**A/N: **__So this is a revised version of chapter five. I didn't really like the way it was and I couldn't really branch off of it. I hope you like this version better! _

Naraku Origumo placed himself behind his desk as he heard footsteps down the hallway and the hushed whispers beyond it. He heard the huge, shaky sigh that came from his pet's lips as she gathered the courage to knock on the door to his office. Smirking, he called to her on her first knock. "Come in, Kagome."

Slowly, the door to his office opened up. To him, she looked better than ever. Her brown eyes were full of despair and fear. Her face was bruised from what was undoubtly, punishment from her father. She looked down at her feet, never once glancing up at him. Obviously knowing better than to speak to anyone. _Her father has done well. _He chuckled.

Rising, he moved from his desk behind the counter and moved toward her. She cringed away from him and toward a chair on the far end of his office as he moved closer to her. Smirking to himself when she couldn't see him, he turned the padlock on the door and then turned and moved to the middle of his office. He looked down at her with a hungry, malicious look. "Well my pet, seems we meet again. Please, don't be silent around me. Your father gave me permission to use force if I had to, to make you speak to me, and don't worry, pet, I will use everything I know to make you talk."

Kagome's head shot up at his nickname for her, instantly recognizing it. Tremors ran down her whole body as she slowly looked up at him, finally realizing who he was. "N-N-N-Naraku?" She whimpered with a quivering voice.

"So you do remember me? Wonderful." He said with a warm smile. Moving toward her, he hooked his finger underneath her chin and forced her to look up at him. "If I may say so, you look absolutely mouthwatering, my pet."

He walked away from her, watching her out of the corner of his eye as he rounded his desk and pulled some rope and a blindfold out of a drawer of his desk. "Now the fun is about to start." He smiled at her and pulled the rope tight as horror washed over her face.

888

Inuyasha quickly rushed into Sesshomaru's office, anxious to catch the bastard in the other office. His brother was already to work changing the channel to the appropriate one. "Let's hope this works." He said determined.

"If he lays one hand on her, I swear I'm going to rip his head off, Sesshomaru." He growled, eager to get his Kagome away from the dangers that seemed to follow her whenever her father was involved.

"Here we g-." Sesshomaru stopped short as Naraku's face filled the screen. "That damn bastard." He growled.

_Naraku smiled at the boys through the telescreen. He clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "You poor fools must have thought I'd let you film me. Well don't you remember the doctor/patient privacy rule? I can't let you see what Kagome is going to tell me." He chuckled maliciously. "That's for me to know, and you to never find out. By the way, Sesshomaru, next time you try to hid a camera in someone's office, make sure they don't have a bug detector." He smiled one last evil smile and the screen went black._

Inuyasha was shaking from head to toe as Sesshomaru was calmly trying to figure out a new plan to save the girl he just blindly sent into this psychopath's office. Before Sesshomaru could say a word, Inuyasha was bounding off down the hallway. "Inuyasha!" His brother called after him.

Inuyasha stopped and turned on his heels, angry he was being stopped. "Sesshomaru! I have to go to her! Who knows what that man is doing to her!" He shuddered thinking about it.

Sesshomaru walked to him and began pulling him back into his office. "Come on. I can't let you go in there. We have no grounds, and if you go in there her father will just pull her out from under your care! Do you really want that? Do you?" He asked shaking his brother.

Sighing in defeat, Inuyasha shook his head and gave up. "What can I do Sesshomaru? MY mate is in there with someone who could be torturing her and I can't do a thing to stop it!"

"For now, Brother, all we can do is be patient."

888

Kagome was horrified. She couldn't see a thing, but she could feel his could breathe on her naked skin and the cold wood of his desk under her back. "Let's see how well your father taught you with these…" She whimpered as she felt his fingers slide into her. He twisted them and moved them roughly inside of her, his sharp nails cutting her insides. She whimpered with every thrust of them into her and she could feel herself beginning to bleed.

"Hmm, I see he's done this quite regularly with you, seeing as how you're not crying out." It sickened her to think about how many times her father had done this, and other horrible things to her. As she thought of her father's abuses toward her, she tried to block out his slimy mouth taking her nipples into them and how painfully he twisted them.

When all that was finished, he gazed down at her body. "I see your bruises are healing up from your father's last punishment. He told me that if that happened to give you new ones." Glancing around, he caught sight of the whip that he had been running over her. "This will do nicely."

In the darkness, she couldn't tell what he had in his hand, but she quickly found out when it came across her frail skin. She wanted to scream, but she knew that would only earn more lashings. Instead, she bit her lip until it bled, and bleed it did. Naraku continued to beat her with the whip and she could feel her skin bleed where it was being pulled off of her and the bruises that were forming.

After multiple lashings, he finally finished and ran his sweaty hands over her body once more. He unblindfolded her and then undid her bindings. Smiling as she curled in on herself, trying to hid her body from him, he threw her clothes at her. "Get dressed now, I'll see you in two days." He said chuckling manically.

888

Naraku had walked her back to her room after their therapy session. She had hoped Inuyasha would take her, but she guessed he had paperwork or something to tend to. When he left her at her door, Naraku whispered to her a repeat of her father's orders to her.

She had nodded to him, and wished she could go back to the days before her stepfather, when it was just her and Inuyasha, together. She smiled to herself as she picked up the picture of them at the festival and lay back on her bed, clutching it to her chest.

Thinking back, she started to doze off peacefully, back in a world without pain:

"_Inuyasha! Inuyasha." Kagome called laughing to him. He had just gotten back from a trip with his parents and was coming back to see her. She was so happy, she couldn't believe he was gone so long._

_He came running toward her, swooping down and picking her up when he got close enough. "Kagome!" He called happily. "I missed you so much! The trip to Kyoto was a total bore without you!" _

_She laughed as she held onto him tightly, never wanting to let him go. "Well it was a total bore here too without you." _

"_I'm glad I was so missed," He joked, gently kissing her forehead. _

_She giggled, "What are we going to do today?" She asked. _

"_Hmm, how about we go back to our 'favorite' place." He said with a grin. _

_She laughed and nodded her head, thinking about her and Inuyasha as he drug her behind him to their favorite spot. _

_Inuyasha was a year older than her, but when it came to book smarts and his family, he was in a league of their own. His family worked directly under a company that ran a center for troubled teenagers and Inuyasha was to become a doctor there as soon as he could. Which at this rate would be soon; he was already the head of the class and doing classwork well above his grade level. _

_She smiled at how intelligent he was, just as they reached the place they spoke of. It was a stream on the backside of the city park that was hidden back in the woods. It had a waterfall with a pool of water at the base of it. It was gorgeous, with multicolored flowers everywhere and large flowering trees surrounding it. It had been hers and Inuyasha's favorite place to hide since they were younger. Curling up with him beside the waterfall, they erupted into stories about their time apart until late into the evening. _

As Inuyasha made his way into Kagome's room later that night he found her clutching the picture in her hands. He smiled at the sight of it. A smile had formed on her lips as she obviously dreamed of something peaceful.

Carefully, he pulled the picture from her arms and took its place in her arms, cradling her against his chest. He smiled when she nuzzled herself against him and sighed warmly, whispering his name. He gently kissed her forehead and dozed off with her.


	6. Revelations

Inuyasha woke first the next morning and smiled warmly down at the sleeping girl in his arms. Sometime during the night, she had rolled close to him, gripping his shirt with her tiny hands. While she slept, he watched her, thinking of nights long ago when he would do the same thing, but it was a better time, for both of them.

He closed his eyes trying to force out the dark thoughts that tried to gather in his minds. Thoughts that he couldn't entertain or risk losing his sanity. A sanity he was just barely clinging to right now. If he thought about what those men had done to his mate he could lose it. "Kagome," He murmured against her hair.

He couldn't lose her. He couldn't. She was all that mattered now.

He slowly released her from his arms and laid her flat on her back, being careful not to disturb her from her sleep. He carefully pulled up her shirt to inspect the damage from her session with the evil man the day before. He was positive something had happened; he could smell him all over her and his putrid stink burnt his nose.

As he revealed her midsection, he saw gashes, blisters from where her skin had been ripped off her body. He traced his fingers over where bruises were beginning to form, a sad expression on his face. He knew it was hurting her, knew she was in unbearable pain, yet she tried to hide it. Hide it from him. What was she so afraid of that she couldn't tell him?

He had a bad feeling about all of this.

Kagome's body ached. All the gashes on her front side burned where the fabric of her shirt fell on it. She wanted to cry, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. Crying only makes things worse.

She opened her eyes groggily. She could have sworn Inuyasha had been in here the night before, but he was nowhere to be found this morning. She sighed softly, and attempted to get out of the bed. She sucked in a sharp breath as pain shot through her. She whimpered as she finally managed to get herself into a sitting position and off the bed.

She carefully made her way to the small bathroom, trying to avoid the pain slashing through her front side. Shutting the door behind her so that Inuyasha wouldn't see her wounds, she slowly pulled her shirt up and over her head. Every muscled in her torso burned with the simple motion, and a hiss of air escaped her lips.

After her shirt was off, she surveyed the damage. Thick, wide gashes covered her stomach and ran down into the waistband of her sweats. Underneath her bra, thin bruises and cuts crisscrossed across her breasts and shoulders. She grimaced as she prodded one gently with her fingers. Her feelings of joy about losing the bruises on her stomach yesterday were gone today. Today, it looked like someone had painted her black and blue from her neck down, but she could only wish that was the case.

A knock on the door into her room startles her. "Kagome?" She heard Inuyasha call to her from the room. _Shit. _She thought to herself as she looked around the bathroom for anything to cover herself. She could hear him coming closer to the door, thankfully it was locked.

"Kagome!" He called again, jostling the doorknob to the bathroom. She prayed silently he wouldn't open it and see her like this because he knew she might not be able to keep her secrets if he did.

Panic shot through Inuyasha when he found Kagome's bathroom door locked. He thought of the last time he found her in the bathroom, but he couldn't smell any blood this time. Still, anything could have happened to her, she could be drowning in the bath tub…That didn't leave a scent.

With one shoulder push, he broke the lock, and was standing face to face with a shirtless, battered Kagome. Her eyes were wide with panic as she attempted to cover her torso with her arms.

His eyes scanned over her, sorrow in them. His eyes took in the damage on her again, but noticed the bruises and rope burns on her wrists for the first time.

Tearing his eyes away from her wrists, he looked at her face. Tears were welling up in her chocolate eyes as he looked at her body. Kagome was close to breaking her father's rules. Close to opening up to Inuyasha and telling him everything she'd wanted to tell him.

His eyes were full of safety and she wanted to fall into them. Wanted to fall into the security that was his arms. With one last shuddering breath, she launched herself into his arms. "Inuyasha!" She cried.

Shocked at how she came to him, it took him a moment to process what was happening.. Once his shock wore off, he wrapped his arms tightly around his fragile mate, holding her close to him as she cried into his lab coat.

"Shh, sweetheart." He murmured into her hair as he stroked it. "I'm right here baby. I'll protect you. Tell me what those men have done to you."

Kagome sobbed into his chest, sobbed from the pain of her wounds, and from the punishment that she was bound to receive fore telling him her secret.

When she had cried all she could cry, she looked up at him with a tearstained face. "Inuyasha," She whispered. "Save me."

He looked down at her, his heartbreaking. "I will, just tell me what their doing."

"Don't let them get me." She begged. "They'll know I told you."

He shook his head. "I'll protect you, me and Sesshomaru and Rin. We all will." He promised.

She nodded. "He told me I couldn't eat, Inu. Couldn't talk. Or I'd be punished." She said, her eyes watering up. "When he came to visit he knew you gave me food and made me throw up until I bled. It all hurts so bad Inu."

He carefully picked her up and sat on the toilet, cradling her so she could tell him everything she was holding in. "I've got you now sweetheart. Tell me everything, love." Gently, he placed his hand on her aching stomach and stroked a piece of unscathed skin.

Kagome leaned into his chest as she continued her confessions. Closing her eyes, her voice trembled as she spoke. "When you moved away, his beatings got worse. He wasn't as scared you would find the bruises if you didn't see me every day. Oh Inuyasha, I was so scared when you left!" Her eyes watered. "He would hit me with whatever he could find, glass, belts, chairs, his fist, anything!"

Guilt ran through him as he remembered her teary goodbye when he moved away from her. "I'm so sorry Kagome…" He said burying his face in her hair to hide his tears from her.

"He raped me, Inuyasha." She said with watering eyes. "Whenever he or his friends felt like it, maybe one of them maybe more. I was his slave for whatever he wanted." She sobbed. "This," She said gesturing to her body, "Is nothing. This is mild compared to other things he's done. The day he found that I had called yo-"

"That was _his _doing?" He asked thinking back to that day. The way her room looked, the fear in her eyes, the blood, everything. "I knew you were lying when you said you fell. I knew it!"

She shook her head sadly, "I'm scared Inu…He said he'd kill me if he found I'd told you all of this…"

He cradled her in his arms. "Don't worry baby girl, we're going to make sure that doesn't happen." He kissed her forehead. "I'm going to take you to Sesshomaru's office; if anyone in the halls asks you about it, you passed out. Okay?"

She nodded her head as he rose with her cradled against his chest. Looking down at her, he wrapped a towel around her so you couldn't see her injuries. He looked down at her, "I love you Kagome. We're going to get through this."

She nodded and gave him a heartbreaking smile. "I love you too Inuyasha."

With one last look at her, he went out into the hallway, praying he wouldn't run into Naraku.

As they rounded the corner near the front desk, he caught the eye of his sister-in-law and motioned for her to follow him. With a worried look, Rin followed quickly behind Inuyasha down the last hallway to her husband's office.

888

Sesshomaru sat in the chair behind his desk, filling out paperwork as usual. Sighing, he shoved the papers away, frustrated. Kagome. That's who was on his mind right now. They had to figure out a way to get her to open up to his brother. Sighing he planted his elbows on his desk and ran his hands through his hair.

Lost in his thoughts surrounding his brother's mate, he barely heard his brother and wife come through the door with Kagome. "Brother. Rin." He said, looking up surprised. "What happened?"

Kagome looked at him with weary as Inuyasha pulled the towel off of her bare torso. Rin gasped horrified at her injuries. "My God." She said, bringing her hand to her mouth. Sesshomaru's eyes widened, a rare sight from him.

"Was this the outcome of her session with her 'therapist' yesterday?" he asked his brother.

"Yea." Inuyasha said, looking down at his mate, pulling her closer to his chest. "She told me everything, Brother. We've gotta get her somewhere safe before they realize she's told us everything. These," He said, moving his eyes over her torso, "Are just because her bruises went away and as punishment for speaking to me. Her mate."

Rin looked at her husband with worried eyes. "We ran into Naraku in the hallway. I fear he's calling her _father._" She said, spitting out the last word.

"Let him. Kagome's going to be long gone before he could ever hope to get here." A smirk crossed Sesshomaru's face as he came up with a plan to hide his brother's mate.


	7. Dangerous Confrontations

He could hear a muffled conversation through the thick door, but thanks to his amazing hearing, he heard it crystal clear. _I think they found out sir. I don't honestly know, they carried her into the older one's office and I've heard mumblings from inside, but nothing definite. I don't know; that one with the dog ears seems awfully close to our 'little princess'. _

Sesshomaru stood outside of Naraku's door as his brother and wife ushered Kagome out of his office and down the hall to the front entrance. "Be safe, guys." He whispered. Inuyasha turned to his brother and nodded sternly, his lips a tight, composed line.

He was worried. Damn worried. He didn't like what had happened, especially that it had happened right under his nose. He wanted the girl to be safe, especially since she was his brother's mate. Even past that point, she meant a lot to him. She might even have been the first one to melt his cold heart. He watched, longing he could go with them to help protect her. Shaking his head, he reentered his office once they had exited the front door and were safely inside his BMW in the employee parking lot.

Inuyasha crawled into the backseat, Kagome curled into his arms sleeping soundly. Rin had jumped into the front seat and was turning the key in the ignition. He looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms and couldn't believe someone would ever lay a hand on her. Gently, he brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and gently caressed her cheek. The world was lost to him in these little moments.

The pedal was to the floorboard of the BMW M3 as Rin barreled down the highway. She didn't care what the speedometer said; she just knew she had to get the girl to safety. She glanced in the rearview mirror at Inuyasha and smiled softly at the gentle expression of love on his face. She knew it had taken a load off of his shoulders when she finally opened up to him. It meant the world and she could see it on his face.

In her head, Rin prayed that there would be no cops out tonight. They had too much ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it. A silent chime rang in Inuyasha's jean pocket and he carefully maneuvered the girl in his arms around so that he wouldn't jostle her too much. He knew without glancing at the caller id who it was and it unnerved him slightly that he was already calling. "Yea Sesshomaru?"

_Inuyasha, you and Rin keep your eyes open. They're on the move and they have backup. Naraku left his office about a minute ago. How far out are you? _There was worry in his voice, though he could tell his older brother was trying to keep his composure .

"We're about forty miles down the road, we got a hundred left before we're at the safe house."

A chuckle could be heard in the background. _Rin's driving isn't she? That woman sure knows how to put speed down. You guys have only been gone twenty minutes, she must be doing, what 100 mph? _

"120, to be more precise." Inuyasha chuckled back. "Maybe you shouldn't give her these fast cars to drive, brother."

_In these situations, I think it's a blessing she has them. Tell her to drive safely. _With that, he heard his brother hang up. Closing his phone, he set it to his side and stroked Kagome's cheek.

"We're almost there baby girl." He whispered gently into her hair.

Without warning, a van slammed into the hood on the driver's side. Rin screamed as the car spun out of control and flipped. Inuyasha, scared for both his sister-in-law and his mate, tried to hold the roof of the car up so that it wouldn't crush them. Kagome, startled awake by the commotion panicked and began screaming with Rin.

_**Two men watched from an industrial van, it was one of those vans that gave you the creeps just looking at. The only windows on the van were the ones in the cab and the windshield; it also had a black paint job that screamed trouble. The man in the passenger side smiled to himself as he smoothed out his expensive silk suit. "Good job." He chuckled menacingly as he watched the car they collided with flip six times before coming to rest on its side. "You know what to do, Bankotsu."**_

_**A menacing smile came over the man's face as he opened the door of the van and stepped out into the night. **_

**Inuyasha could smell his mate and his sister-in-law's blood. His blood boiled behind his eyes, turning red as his demon blood overrode the human in him. With a snarl, he kicked the roof off the car and climbed out, cradling his bloodied mate in his arms. Gently, he laid her on the ground and pulled Rin out as well, laying her next to Kagome. Looking around, he saw the van and the man walking toward him dressed in black. Without a second thought, he ran at him, claws bared ready to kill.**

_**The man continued to watch from the passenger side a smirk gracing is youthful face. "Soon my daughter. Soon." He watched as Inuyasha ran at Bankotsu, his demon side in control of him. He chuckled, grateful he had hired the thunder demon to fight the battle for him, the distraction he provided would give him time to swipe the raven haired girl into the van and get away. **_

_**Inuyasha ran at the other demon without any self-control, he slashed at him quickly trying to get around the huge sword Bankotsu wielded. The man chuckled to himself as the thunder demon stepped back, realizing he was facing an opponent stronger than himself, even though he was a half demon. He jumped back and into the woods, bringing Inuyasha following close behind. "Perfect." The instigator whispered as he stepped out of the van, smoothed out his suit, and quickly moved toward the girl he called his daughter. **_

Inuyasha, his body pulsing with demon blood, ran after the demon with the giant sword, chasing after him into the forest. He could see nothing but red, knew nothing but to kill. In the back of his mind a part of him silently screamed there was something he needed to remember but he ignored it, choosing to embrace his demon self.

The man in front of him was scared; he could see it in his eyes. Whoever had hired him hadn't known that he could become fully demon when provoked. He still had a cocky attitude though as he yelled back at him, "Think you can catch me? He, you may have demon blood coursing through you, but you still have the blood of humans in you!" He bolted in and out between the trees of the forest around them.

He snarled at him, rage overwhelmingly possessing him. "You're pretty cocky for a scared brat." Unperceptively the other demon's face flinched, his step faltering slightly. Just enough though for Inuyasha to grab his arm and spin him around, pressing his back firmly against a tree making him drop his sword.

Inuyasha held his hand up, red smearing his nails. Bankotsu pushed against him to no avail, he was stuck. Every move he made, Inuyasha moved his hand closer to his throat. A satisfied growl rumbled from his lips. The thunder demon glared at him. "You forget all about the human bitch you are protecting just because you awaken your demon blood. You are the most pathetic kind of hanyou." He snarled the word 'hanyou' putting extra emphasis on it.

He blindly slashed his claws across Bankotsu's chest in a violent swing, crimson red blood pouring through the wound. Inuyasha's bitter assault, though, left room for him to kick himself free of him, flipping away and grabbing his sword. He swung it with precision, sinking it into the half-demon's shoulder. There was a fierce determination on Bankotsu's face as he landed the blow. Inuyasha, enraged, turned and grabbed the sword from his shoulder.

Exerting demonic energy into the blade, it crackled with lightening pulsing into his hand. Inuyasha winced as he took the direct blow, chuckling as he did. Bankotsu's eyes widened as Inuyasha laughed at his power. Glaring at the inu hanyou, he became pissed. "You dare to laugh at me, half-demon?" He shouted, his hair blowing around his face as he pushed more lightening through the sword.

Inuyasha twisted his hand, ignoring the pain as it coursed up his arm his demon blood taking the blunt of the shock. "That does it you insolent jackass." He snarled, digging his nails into his shoulder. He raised his hand to send the blades of blood at him when his arm was grabbed violently by a clawed hand.

"Inuyasha." Spoke the stern voice, unusually calm in the situation. He jerked his head around, ready to attack him.

Standing behind him stood Sesshomaru, glaring violently at his brother. "You insolent fool, wake up." He said punching him in the face with enough force to knock him to the ground. "And you, you hired twit," A glowing whip came from his fingertips, dripping with demonic poison. He cracked it against the ground then brought it around Bankotsu's neck, slicing his head off with his demonic power. "You can go to hell, the man who hired you will join you shortly."

Inuyasha stood up, snarling at his brother. "You'll pay for that." He lunged at him violently, claws extended and ready to kill.

Sesshomaru calmly grabbed his wrist and slammed his fist into his stomach. "Snap out of it!" He yelled. "Think of Kagome!"

Instantly, his eyes snapped open, his irises widening and turning golden again. "K-Ka-agome?" He mumbled. He sank to the ground, Sesshomaru dropping his wrist as he fell.

"Yes, Kagome. Your mate, who you left laying out, exposed for Naraku to grab. Get your ass up." He was looking in the direction of the wreckage of the car, concern marring his features.

Realization dawned on Inuyasha's face, "Fuck!" He shouted, running toward the wreckage, internally beating himself up for leaving her unprotected.

_**He stepped over parts of the BMW that littered the ground from the wreck. His movements were calm and calculated as he got closer and closer to the raven haired girl on the ground. 'Almost there,' he whispered internally. A few moments later he stood over the girl, smiling menacingly down at her. Gently, he bent to lift her off the ground. **_

_**A hand grabbed his wrist suddenly, startling him. "Let her go, you cruel man." Rin said with more strength than she possessed. He laughed at her and lifted Kagome off of the ground and into his arms, knocking her hand away from him with little effort. **_

"_**You know nothing of cruel, my dear." He drawled out looking down at the woman covered in dirt and dry blood below him. **_

_**Turning to go back to the van, he heard a loud rustling from the forest. "Kagome!" He heard as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru burst out of the forest. He laughed as they lunged for him. **_

_**A demonic, blood curling laughter escaped from his throat as he cradled Kagome close to his chest and grabbed the edge of the long cloak he wore over his shoulder and swung it around him quickly. **_

_**A black puff of smoke being left in his wake, and the echo of his demonic laughter.**_

She was hazy when she woke up, her head hanging at an awkward angle. Dazed, she tried to lift her hand to her throbbing head. Instead of feeling air though, her wrist came in contact with a hard metal clasp around it. Panic seized her as she looked around her, jerking her hand violently against the clasps around her wrists.

She was in a dark room, a basement from the looks of it. There was a single light lit close to her, casting an ominous shadow across the room. The walls were brick and the floor was dirt that much she could tell, but that wasn't what scared her most. No, what scared her was the chair she was strapped into. Her legs were bound by clasps similar to the ones that were around her wrists. The whole chair was metal and cold against her bloodied body.

Looking down, she realized her clothes were completely torn to shreds and exposed a lot of battered flesh, but it was forgotten when a chilling, familiar voice echoed through the room.

"I see you are awake, my precious daughter." He said warmly, moving into the light. Before her stood her father, clean and tidy as always, a black remote in his hand.

"Father." She said her voice full of steel even as fear crawled up her spine. She glared at the well-dressed man in front of her anger and contempt running through her.

"You know, Kagome, you've been a very, very bad girl. You know this, no?" He said with a faked hurt look, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lip. She glared at him silently, shooting daggers at him. "Kagome," He said softly, "You know I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't give me the answers I want, then I will have to." His hands played with the remote in his hands as he watched her. "Now, what did you tell the half demon? I think that's a simple enough question, don't you?" He leaned in closer to her, his hands on the other side of hers.

She looked at him, malice contorting her face. "Go to hell." She said, spitting in his face.

Stepping back, a flicker of rage crossed his face before he composed himself and laughed at her, wiping her face with a handkerchief. "You, my dear, will regret that." He said, pressing a button on the remote.

Kagome screamed a loud, painful scream that rocked her whole body. Electric current poured into her body from the chair she sat in, she spasmed wanting to curl in on herself from the pain. As quickly as it started, though, it ended.

Her step father smiled innocently at her, holding the remote in his hand. Fear was all over Kagome's face as she looked at, refusing to give him the pleasure of her tears. "Now, that was the lowest setting we have ten more to go and I'll forewarn you, I don't know if you can handle it." He chuckled to himself, "All you have to do is answer the simple questions I'm asking you and you won't have to go through that again. So tell me, what did you tell the half breed?"

She glared at him and calmly replied, "Never."

He pressed the button again, a higher voltage coursing into the chair. Inside the room, Kagome's bone curling scream reverbed off the walls around him, a sick, satisfied smile tickling his lips at her scream.


	8. Tortured Soul and Defeated Bastard

Back in the clearing, Inuyasha stared at the spot Kagome's stepfather had just vanished from, a dumbstruck look on his face. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was bounding toward his semi-conscious wife. "Rin, Rin sweetie." He pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as he stroked her bloodied hair from her face.

"Sesshomaru," She whispered, her voice rough. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. Relief flooded him at the sight of her eyes. "I'm so sorry." Tears began pouring from her eyes as she remembered the accident and the encounter with Kagome's stepfather.

"Why are you sorry, my dear?" He stroked her cheek. "There's nothing more you could have done." His heart wrenched from his chest at the sight of her heartache.

"I tried to stop him, I tried to stop him when he came for her, but he pushed my hand away and took her. Oh Sesshomaru, he's going to torture her, I just know it." Giant choked sobs came from her chest as she buried her face in Sesshomaru's chest.

Rubbing her back, he looked over at his brother; Inuyasha's rage was just barely being contained. "Inuyasha, we'll find her." He said to his brother. "We'll still save her."

Inuyasha looked over at the couple on the ground, "Rin, did you notice anything, anything at all that could help us?"

Slowly, she raised her head and looked up at her husband. Remembrance flashed in her eyes, "I think I do. He looked like Naraku. Every time her father came to the hospital he looked the same, but when he took her today he looked just like Naraku. Sesshomaru, is it possible Naraku was just a puppet?"

Sesshomaru's eyebrows rose as the possibility entered his mind. "I never even thought of that possibility, but yes it's possible, there was a man, long ago, that did just that." Turning to look at his brother, a pleased smile crossed his face. "Inuyasha, I think I know where he took her."

Inuyasha looked back at him, hope rising in his chest. "Then let's go." Quickly, Sesshomaru had his phone whipped out from his pocket and was dialing some numbers. He spoke a few words to the person on the other end and then closed it.

"We'll have a new car in five minutes." Inuyasha nodded at Sesshomaru, who looked down at Rin.

"We finish this today." They both said in unison as the brother's eyes locked one more time.

Kagome was panting in the chair. Her hair clung to her face with sweat, her heart hammering in her chest. A cold hand ripped the tattered remains of her clothes off of her, leaving her naked and bruised in a chair that, she feared, would lead to her death.

"Dear daughter, I hate seeing you like this, and obviously the chair won't get me the answers I want." He moved toward her, his face a mask. He had already turned the chair up to the fifth notch.

She refused to show it, but her muscles were convulsing wildly from the shocks. Her head was swimming in darkness as she tried to maintain consciousness. Every breath she took hurt, but she knew she couldn't give up her fight now.

She wanted to cover herself, to hide herself from the lustful eyes that moved over her exposed body. She knew what was coming, what he always did, and this time she really had no way of fighting him off.

His hand closed over her breast, pulling her nipple roughly forward, eliciting a scream from her lips. A sharp twist on her other one made her bend her back in pain. "Tell me what you told the half breed."

With clenched teeth, she brought her face as close to his as she could and growled, "No." Rage rippled through his face as he brought the back of his hand across her cheek, his oversized ring ripping out a piece of her cheek. She refused to scream, refused to give him more pleasure in her suffering.

His calm façade was starting to crack, but she didn't care, she would never give up her times with Inuyasha. Never again. "This is your last chance, my dear. You're last chance to tell me what I want to know." His face was twisted in anger, his eyes bulging from his head. A madman he definitely was, but she knew she was going to push him over the edge.

Defiantly, she threw her head to the side, pointing her nose up, making a point of not telling him. An angry, guttural yell came from his chest as he brought a whip across her torso. It stung, put she refused to show it hurt, even though her skin was turning a bright red where the whip had made contact.

Kagome's lack of pain earned a malicious growl from her stepfather's mouth as he brought the whip down across her body repeatedly, without remorse and without stop. She gripped the arms of the chair she was strapped into as the whip laid into her, making her bleed as her skin began to recede.

Her teeth ground into each other as her jaw clenched, she would not scream. She would not give him that pleasure.

Without warning, the chair began to shock her breaking her will as the whip came across her again. The pain was unbearable, with a scream that would make the dead rise she succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.

"Sesshomaru, where are we going?" Inuyasha asked his brother as they sped down the interstate at a dangerous speed.

"We're going to get your mate, Inuyasha." He calmly said as he gunned the accelerator again.

"And where is that?"

"I did some research into Naraku and his finances when he started at the Institute. He owned many properties and one marked me as unusual. He had a small cabin out in the woods. Sounds normal, right? Except for the fact that the cabin isn't on any other records. It's not acknowledged by the state, or by the Feds."

Realization came to Inuyasha's eyes as he understood what his brother was saying. "He's hiding it for a reason…"

"Exactly, he's probably been taking Kagome there for a while to abuse her. It's out of the way, and hidden. If something happened there no one would be the wiser about it."

Inuyasha's anger almost boiled over as he pictured his Kagome being drug into the woods to be tortured by a man she should be able to trust. "Gun it Sesshomaru, this man is as good as dead when we find him."

"Right with you on that one." He said as he kicked the car in gear, and glanced back at his wife who was sleeping soundly in the backseat.

The room was dark when her eyes slowly fluttered open hours later. Her stepfather was sitting on a table on the opposite wall, watching her bleed. Anger surged within her as the man stared at her with his black eyes that seemed to bore into her soul. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him, earning a sneer of a smile from him.

"So the princess awakes." He jumped off of the table and strode toward me. He had calmed down since she passed out, but he now carried something that glinted silver in the dim light. Within a few instants, she realized it was a knife, and a sadistic looking knife at that.

"I guess she does." Kagome says nonchalantly, trying to keep a handle on her situation as best as she could.

"For someone who used to be so quiet, you sure have grown an attitude." His face twisted slightly in anger as he leaned over my still nude body, his face inches from mine.

"That's what happens, dear Father," She growled, "When you send a girl away."

Slowly, he slid the back of the knife blade across her collarbone. "Where did you're fear go?" Sorrow seemed to tinge his words as he continued to pull the blade across her skin.

"I don't know, maybe you raped it out of me." She snapped at him, her anger reaching a boiling point.

Cold blooded rage rolled through him at her remark, "Is that what you want you little whore? You want me to rape you?" He slid the hilt of the knife, a twisted ridged bone concoction, inside of her most private part. Clenching her jaw in defiance, she ignored the pain that came as he slammed it inside of her, ripping her walls open with the razor sharp bone edges. "Then I'll give you your wish. I'll pound," He slammed the hilt in again harder, "into you until you can't defy me anymore. You'll never be able to think about you're little mutt again. I'll ruin you, sweetheart." He twisted it, earning a hiss out of her lips as he tore more skin open.

Reaching into his back pocket, he retrieved a syringe. "You'll never be able to fight me with this in you're system. You'll be paralyzed, forced to watch me take you, unable to scream, to fight, to cry, only watch and feel as I have you in whatever way I want." He stabbed my neck with it, right in the jugular before she could recognize he moved.

Seconds later, she felt the drug take effect. Everything in her felt stiff, she knew he'd been right about the effect of the drug before she even attempted to scream. A sick, satisfied smile contorted his lips as he pulled the hilt of the knife out of her and unstrapped her from the chair, and carried her to the table he had been sitting on when she'd awaken earlier. She had given up hope hours ago that Inuyasha would come to save her, and now, she wished he wouldn't find her. That this man who she'd been forced to trust would kill her after he abused her already tormented body.

Her stepfather was gentle as he laid her on her back on the table. His eyes sliding down her body made her shiver and feel dirty, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

His fingers found her bleeding cavity before she even had time to settle onto the table, there was nothing gentle about them. They were rough and forceful as he threw her legs over his shoulders, giving him a perfect view down and easy access to every part of her. She could feel his sick erection pressing into the backside of her as he assault her, moans of sadistic pleasure leaving his lips as he became rougher.

Closing her eyes to try and escape from what was happening, she was abruptly forced to open them as he dropped her lower half back on the table and began to carve into her thigh with the knife. She wanted to scream, the pain was unbearable as he traced it over her. Slowly, he carved a path from the top of her knee, down the inside of her thigh and up onto her stomach and over her breasts, then back down the opposite side. Continuously he did this while he began pulling down his pants, leaving intricate wounds across her body that was making her a bloody mess.

"You're getting my table dirty," He clucked as he began to position himself at her entry point, taking his time to get it right. "I guess I'll have to punish you." He chuckled as he slammed himself into her, rough and hard reopening her wounds from earlier.

A loud crack, jerked him from his actions, making him pull out of her. She wanted to turn and see what was happening, but was unable to. "Hey! What are you doing!" He shouted, but a loud gunshot silenced him. Her eyes widened in fear as she watched him drop. She wasn't afraid for him, but was afraid of what these people might do to her.

But her fears were soon evaporated when she heard a warm, familiar voice scream her name. "Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he bounded down the basement stairs to her. Tears began to stream from her eyes as the medicine began wearing off, but she was still unable to move. "Oh god, Kagome. Hold on, okay? We've got an ambulance on their way. Hold on baby girl." He said as he scooped her up into his arms and covered her with his jacket.

'I must be worse than I thought I was.' She thought to herself as he cradled her against him, but she never saw where he began walking. Relief had flooded through her, allowing her to drop her defenses and succumb to unconscious bliss as he held her.

Sesshomaru was horrified, no mortified at the scene that laid in front of him as his brother carried Kagome from the dank basement. Under a chair, that he guessed was electrified by the circuits coming from it, a puddle of blood sat, only disturbed by footprints that had been wading through it. The footprints told a sick story as they led to the table on the opposite side of the room, where Naraku's dead body lay, the head mutilated from the Judge shotgun pistol round that had killed him. The table though, was saturated in blood from Kagome, though, the whole room was honestly.

Disgusted, he pulled out his phone and called a clean up team while he left the room to join his brother and the girl who was proving to him how strong people could be.

A warm grasp on her hand drew her from sleep a day later. "Inuyasha?" She whispered, turning her head to look at him. They were in a large, white room that she could only guess was a hospital room. She had IVs and needles in both arms and monitors were beeping from either side of the bed.

"I'm here baby girl." He cooed softly, still stroking her hand.

"Is he…is he gone?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah. He's gone for good. He'll never touch you again. Either will any of his friends. Sweetheart, him and Naraku were the same person, just different disguises." His voice was bordering anger, but not toward her, toward the man who had hurt her.

Nodding slowly, she tried to roll toward him, but a firm hand on her hip caused her to look at the other side of the bed. "Sesshomaru." She said softly as she looked up at him, her beautiful face creased with worry. "What's with all of the worry lines, old man?" She asked playfully, earning a small smile from him.

"Well maybe if little girls wouldn't worry me so much I wouldn't have them." He bantered back as he took a seat on the edge of her bed. She could see relief flooding his features as he patted her leg.

Laughing softly so she wouldn't hurt her already aching body anymore, she smiled at him. "Where's Rin?"

"I sent her home a couple hours ago to get some sleep. She needed some rest after the car accident." His face clouded again as he thought of his pure, innocent wife getting injured.

She nodded her head and turned toward Inuyasha again who was stroking her face. None of them mentioned what happened in the basement, and frankly, it didn't seem she needed to. The boys had pieced together what had happened from the scene of the room and the shape her body was in.

A few minutes later, Sesshomaru excused himself from the room, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome alone. "Inuyasha, how bad is it. Honestly." She asked, her voice catching a little.

"You're going to be fine sweetheart. You have a lot of superficial wounds, but nothing too serious. The worse damage you took was from the electric. Everything else will heal in it's own time." He stroked her cheek and she nodded.

"I love you." She whispered as small tears ran down her cheek.

"Oh Kagome, I love you too." He gently kissed the tear off of her bruised cheek. "When you get better, we'll run away. Got it?"

She laughed softly, wiping another pair of tears from her eyes and nodded. "Got it."

"For now though, close your eyes, and I'll sit here and protect you. No one's going to get close to my baby girl again."

And she did. With a smile on her face, she allowed her eyes to drift shut peacefully for the first time in years. She felt safe, untouchable with Inuyasha clutching her hand. Naraku was dead, and Inuyasha was beside her.

She had nothing to worry about.

Nothing to fear.

Hope was the only thing on the horizon for her.

As her eyes drifted shut, she realized she was cured.


End file.
